


B.I.C. Deleted Scenes

by J_Ace_Flicker



Series: Begrudgingly I Care [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Autistic Character, Autistic Mai, Badass Azula, Badass Ty Lee, Dad Zuko, Deleted Scenes, I have a few more scenes where Mai's autism is touched on tho the fire nation doesnt use that word, More tags to be added, Spinoff, also me: this is not projection at all no sirree nuh uh, and you cannot take that from me sorrynotsorry, autistic characters, begrudgingly I Care, but idk if that will be addressed here or in BIC, caretaker zuko, look mai has the CLASSIC monotone voice and trouble physically expressing herself, me: all characters have autism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24666538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Ace_Flicker/pseuds/J_Ace_Flicker
Summary: So the draft for Begrudgingly I Care began to differ wildly from my original ideas for it, so this is where the Things That Can No Longer Happen will go!
Series: Begrudgingly I Care [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783483
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	B.I.C. Deleted Scenes

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted this to happen pretty much exactly like this in B.I.C., but alas. Still, enjoy!

“Wait, you’re an airbender?!” Aang stops swinging his staff at her, eyes wide and smile wider. “I didn’t think there were any of us left-- I thought I was the last one!” He laughed, loud and free, before shoving himself closer into Ty Lee’s personal space. She backed up. “Are there others? If  _ you _ ’ve managed to hide yourself for this long in the  _ Fire Nation _ of all places, there must be, right?”

“Uh…”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Azula laughs, sharp and condescending and worried. “ _ Ty Lee _ isn’t an airbender, that’s absurd! She’s never bent a single current in her entire, miserable life.”

Ty Lee gave Aang a look that was one part pity and two parts relief. “Azula’s right, you know. I’m just an acrobat!” She did a series of impressive flips, landing on a single hand and holding her body in a position that was visibly uncomfortable for the untrained. “See?”

“Of  _ course _ you’ve never bent currents-- you’re not that type of airbender!”

“Aang, you have  _ got _ to stop trying to talk to our enemies in the middle of battle!” 

“Twinkle Toes does what he wants, Snoozles.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right.” Sokka drooped dramatically and glanced toward Mai. “I don’t suppose that you, uh, will stop throwing sharp-pointy things at us until Aang gets whatever this is out of his system.”

Mai merely sighs. “Whatever he’s saying certainly seems more interesting than this… fight.” Her pause clearly indicated what she thought of their fighting prowess.

Sokka was puffing up to retaliate when Katara shoved him aside. “Aang, I know you want to believe that you’re not alone but… But even if she  _ is _ an airbender, is she worth it? This is a risk, Aang.”

“I know, Katara.” He hadn’t taken his awe-filled eyes away from Ty Lee since the revelation had hit him. “Even if she is my enemy, she’s still an airbender. She deserves to know.”

“Okay, Aang.” She took the hand not holding his staff in hers and squeezed lightly.

“Well, Avatar, I have never heard of there being different  _ types _ of airbenders, but that’s hardly surprising, seeing as the Fire Nation destroyed your temples and all of the knowledge within.”

Aang ignored her, absently patting at Katara’s shoulder to calm her down. “Okay, I’ve never had to explain this before so I might need a minute.” His legs folded up on top of a flurry of air, his brows furrowed, and he rested his chin on his free hand, his other still holding onto Katara’s.

Ty Lee felt guilty. She had manufactured herself to be nice: her acrobatics was meant to entertain, she smiled often so others felt comfortable enough to reflect it back, she laughed freely to help inspire that feeling in others, she learned chi-blocking so that she would have a non-lethal way to fight. Even the color she wore, pink, was meant to mimic the pink of a happy aura, of an aura that is willing to receive and to give kindness. So, a large part of her wanted to be an airbender for the simple fact that the boy-- and he was a boy, a child, they all were but him most of all-- looked so  _ happy _ at the thought. He clearly knew that she was still his enemy, that this would change nothing--  _ it changed everything _ \-- but it was a kindness that she had to do nothing in order to give.

Still. Another part of her wanted this to be true to answer for all of the lonely, aching pieces of herself that she could not explain. For her obvious  _ difference _ to her Fire Nation peers. For her grey eyes and easy smile and fickle nature.

She wanted to be an airbender for him, sure, but maybe she mostly wanted it for herself.

Kindness can be selfish, too.

“Okay, I think I got it!” Grey eyes met grey. “Okay, so airbenders and air-aligned peoples--”

“Air aligned?” Mai cut in, eyes narrowed.

“Yeah! I’m narrowing the definition of airbender to make this easier, but even those who couldn’t really bend could be considered airbenders if the teachings resonated enough with them. We didn’t really have nations since we were mostly nomadic, so we all called ourselves benders.”

She sighed. “Weird.”

“Maybe! Anyway, airbenders have three subcategories of bending! There’s externalized, where you guide the air, there’s the delocalized, where the air guides  _ you _ , and then there’s internalized, where you are the air!” Aang let go of Katara’s hand to do a happy spin atop his airball. “I’m pretty sure that Ty Lee’s the last type!” His eyes seemed to sparkle as he rambled out, “Oh, I bet you see auras! I can, too, but not a lot.”

Ty Lee just. Blinked. “Oh, yeah, I do.”

“What does that mean for Ty Lee?”

“Well, Azula--”

“That’s  _ Princess _ Azula to you, brat.”

“--Princess Azula, I think a demonstration might explain a lot more than I can! You’re pretty agile, could you do a backflip or something?”

Azula’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I don’t perform on command.”

“It’ll be worth your time, I promise.”

“It  _ better _ be.”

She flawlessly flipped  _ or something _ .

“Great! Now it’s your turn, Ty Lee.”

Ty Lee untensed a bit at that. Performing was kinda her thing, after all. She did exactly what Azula did, with maybe a little more flair, but that’s just show biz!

“Did you see that?!” He ran up to her, dispelling his airball and ruffling Katara’s hair in the process. 

“No.” Toph smirked.

Aang ignored her, as was his wont. “Princess Azula’s form was perfect, but you heard those sounds right? The way the fabrics sounded, or  _ didn’t _ , and the way she landed.”

“Ty Lee,” Azula snapped. “Again.” And so Ty Lee repeated what she had just done. “Hmph.”

“I mean, I kinda see it.” Mai sounded a touch less bored than she had earlier. 

Aang gasped, the very picture of delight, his aura pink--  _ kind so kind-- _ and green--  _ growing and giving-- _ and brown-- _ nurturing and fond and I-will-help-you-grow. _ “I bet that, when you think you’ll land rough, you push your aura out to where you’ll crash, right?”

“How did you know?”

Aang jumped from foot to foot, grinning like a loon. “It’s pretty common for internalized airbenders to do that!”

“Auras aren’t air.” Sokka pointed out, sounding very unsure. He hated anything wishy-washy, like divination or spirituality or auras. Ironic, considering Spirits came flocking to him constantly.

“Not exactly. Air is intangible, and so a lot of intangible things have the  _ aspect _ of air, which is why airbending has different categories; it’s difficult to gain mastery of  _ one _ aspect, so airbenders usually focus on the aspect they’re naturally inclined to and dabble in the rest!”

“I didn’t know you can see auras, Twinkletoes.”

“Not well. Usually, I just get a general feeling off of people. I can only see the auras of people I’m  _ really _ close to.”

“This is fun, and all,” Mai began, in her usual tone of  _ this is not fun at all, actually,  _ “but I think we’ve heard enough.”

Princess Azula  _ harrumphed _ . “This changes everything. Ty Lee is  _ mine _ , but Father wouldn’t spare her if it came out she was an airbender. And airbending could be  _ useful _ if Ty Lee learned more about it…” Azula tilted her head, smirking, “Girls, how do you feel about a little  _ rebellion _ ? We’re teenagers, are we not?”

“Well, I guess I  _ am _ due for another bout of teenage rebellion.” 

“You guys want to join the circus for a bit? It could be fun!.”

“We are not joining the circus, Ty Lee. Don’t be ridiculous. We just need to find the one person who might be willing to tell us more about your airbending that won’t get us immediately killed on sight. We can only hang around the Avatar for so long before even idiots like  _ Zhao _ start getting suspicious.”

“Are we going to see who I  _ think _ we’re going to see?”

“Duh.”

“Oooh, I’m so excited!”

“Uh, what’s going on?” Aang asked. Sokka shrugged and Toph laughed. Katara just stood there, staring at the girls who were Being Very Suspicious.

“We’re going to see Zuzu. I’ll send him your regards. Ta.”

“Bye-bye!”

“Ugh.”

Aang laughed once the Fire Nation trio was out of sight. “I think that went well!”


End file.
